Since at least the middle ages, man has used archery equipment to hunt game. Archery equipment typically includes a projectile launching instrument such as a bow, a compound bow, or a cross bow, and a projectile such as an arrow, which can be launched by the projectile launching apparatus. Archery equipment also includes accessory items such as gloves for the user, sights for the projectile launching equipment, and quivers for storing arrows.
Those familiar with hunting game will recognize that scent is a factor which must be managed during the tracking and hunting of game. Most game animals, such as deer have a sense of smell which is far more sensitive than that possessed by humans, and can detect scents which cannot be discerned by humans. In order to attract a game animal, the presence or absence of scent must be managed by the hunter.
The hunter can manage scent in two ways. The first way is to avoid producing any scents which will scare off the target animal. Among the scents that the hunter wishes to avoid are those scents which are distinctly human or man-made scents that alert the target animal to the presence of humans. Particularly to be avoided are perfume and soap type scents. For this reason, many hunters will not bathe for several days before going deer hunting, or otherwise will bathe in special perfume-free soaps to ensure that they do not give off any perfume or soap scents which can be detected by the deer.
The second way in which scent can be managed is to produce scents which are designed to attract a game animal.
It has been known for some time that most, if not all animals release certain volatile chemicals which attract other members of their species. Often, the members of the species attracted are those of the opposite gender. These sex attractants are known as pheromones. For example, the pheromone secreted by the queen bee will attract drones from a wide downwind area, to allow the drones to know that the queen is ready to mate. Similarly, mammals also secrete pheromones. Pheromones secreted by a doe will alert bucks in a wide downwind area of the presence of the doe and, under certain circumstances of her willingness to engage in mating behavior.
Scientists have determined which chemicals comprise this pheromone and hunters have learned to take advantage of the attracting power of pheromones. Deer pheromone is now commercially available in liquid form.
The deer pheromone typically is packaged in a bottle which the hunter carries with him into the field. To use the attractant, the hunter opens the bottle and places some of the liquid on the ground or on trees or bushes that are positioned at a point where the hunter would take his shot (the target area). Typically, this target area may be in a clearing in the woods adjacent to the tree in which the hunter has positioned his tree stand.
After sprinkling the liquid attractant onto the ground, the hunter will climb a nearby tree and remain stationary in a tree stand within the tree, and wait for a suitable target animal, such as a buck to appear. When the buck is attracted by the attractant to the clearing, the hunter will launch his arrow at the buck in an attempt to kill the buck.
Several problems exist with this method of using an attractant. One difficulty is that the hunter may leave a sufficient amount of his own scent in the target area to cause the target animal to avoid the target area even with the presence of an attractant.
To overcome this problem, the Applicant has knowledge of the existence of an arrow which contains a spring loaded scent canister. The arrow can be fired by the hunter at the spot to which the hunter desires to attract the target animal. Upon impact with the ground, the canister mechanism releases a spray containing all of the attractant placed in the canister. Although this arrow represents an improvement over the manual placement of scent in a particular area, room for improvement exists.
The primary drawback with the above-mentioned arrow is that it is believed to release all of the attractant it contains at one time. This has the disadvantage of expending all of the attractant immediately. As the attractant is generally of a volatile nature, the attractant soon evaporates leaving little residue to attract any animals who might be downwind of the target area at any substantial time after the attractant has dissipated.
It is therefore one object of the present invention provide an arrow which contains a reservoir for carrying a fluid which overcomes the problems discussed above.